


"Reaper"

by ElleElle20



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Badass Rey, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mention of blood, Mystery, Non-Graphic Violence, Psychological Horror, Stalking, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27111772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElleElle20/pseuds/ElleElle20
Summary: A Halloween costume "Rave" is being hosted at the old bottling company warehouse on the outskirts of Hanna City. The theme for the rave is video game characters. Rey plans to come as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. Ben was supposed to come as McCree from Overwatch, but ultimately shows up as Reaper from the same game ... Overwatch.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 29
Kudos: 32
Collections: A Fall Reylo Exchange





	"Reaper"

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LostInQueue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostInQueue/gifts).



> For you, LostInQueue!
> 
> Hope you like it!

Rey brushed her hair back into a ponytail while she looked at her costume laid out all over her bed. “Rey Sands, I’d like you to meet Lara Croft. Lara Croft, meet Rey Sands.” She couldn’t help but grin.

Khaki colored leggings, double hip holsters, with the leather lace-up straps, gloves and wristbands, and her brown boots sat at the foot of her bed. Rey was especially glad she was able to nab the real life Heckle & Koch matching pistols with the silver slides and black frames. Those and her bow, quiver and tipped arrows which gave her an additional layer of authenticity were all propped up against the wicker clothes hamper in the corner of her bedroom. She loved going whole hog when it came to her Halloween costumes every year.

Make no mistake, Rey clearly was quite the pacifist in real life, and ordinarily wouldn’t be caught dead in possession of any firearms of any kind. Literally. She, however, refused to pass up such a great deal. Realism was very important. And when all was said and done, she also knew she could always return them or take them to a pawn shop later.

She stopped midway between her bedroom and bathroom to read a text she had just received from Rose. Apparently, Finn wanted to know if she and Ben might want to go in together on some “molly” for the rave tonight. What? That was the craziest idea ever. Rose had the lowest drug tolerance level of anyone Rey knew. She quickly typed her reply, knowing she had no intentions on baby-sitting her best friend all night

(Rey) WTF – hell no, r u crazy?

(Rey) LOL – see u there

She shook her head in disbelief. Rey was starting to realize that this needed to be their last hurrah as far as partying at raves like teenagers went. Besides, she and Ben both graduated less than four years ago, and it was now time to take life more seriously. Considering they would soon be planning a wedding, they needed to concern themselves with the future and their new lives together.

She texted him to get his 10-20. Rey now wished they had chosen to go together as opposed to meet up there.

(Rey) hey babe

(Rey) where the hell are you? still wanna meet there?

Nothing. No response.

Ben hated Halloween, but this year Rey was finally able to convince him that it would be fun. The video game theme was such a cool idea – it was certainly a different idea. And she was certain that’s what finally grabbed him, strange as it may seem.

She was especially happy that he really made quite an effort this year. Being a huge Overwatch fan, considering how obscure the game was, and how undercover he was about playing the multiplayer first-person shooter. He would never let friends catch him playing, but it was clear he was way into it.

Rey couldn’t help but notice how excited and so secretive Ben became the closer the weekend approached. Ben had decided to go as Jesse McCree. He often chose him or Hanzo whenever he played. Truthfully, Rey was looking forward to wrapping herself completely around her sexy gunslinger.

After giving Ben another ten minutes to respond, she decided to just go ahead and get dressed. Rey went out the door and jumped in her Volvo.

The old bottling company warehouse was about seven miles outside of town. The parking lot was packed and there were several cars lined up on the grassy hillside surrounding the outer fence. It looked as though someone had also apparently torn down the old employee entrance gate.

The vacant warehouse and its semi-detached annex were the last remnants of what once was a thriving production and manufacturing district. With colored lights and lasers emanating from the warehouse itself, the annex appeared to be its ghostly shadow.

“Thought they would have made use of the whole joint.” Rey huffed. “Guess not.”

There was something in the air. Rey couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She looked up at the sky the second she stepped out of her car. Rey tried to think of how many Halloween full moons she could remember in her lifetime. Seemed so appropriate, but also awfully rare. She locked her car and armed her alarm after she threw her bow and quiver over her shoulder and checked her cellphone once more.

The music sliced through the night air like machetes. She could feel the vibrations and the beat pounding through the soles of her boots, and she hadn’t even walked into the place yet. Rey tried to remember who the deejay was… She couldn’t, but she was certain Finn had mentioned it to her earlier.

It didn’t really matter anyway. All she wanted to do tonight was dance away her demons till she was good and sweaty and then pin down and push up on that big, beautiful man of hers. There was definitely … something in the air.

Speaking of which, it was so unlike Ben not to return two texts in a row back-to-back.

#

She walked through the automatic garage-like doors. The music was now deafening. And the bass was so heavy she felt it shaking the holsters on each of her hips.

Rey reached down and grabbed two red glow sticks out of the huge cardboard boxes by the entrance. Her eyes scanned the crowd ... it was becoming more like a swarm.

It was most definitely a Rave! – The place was literally crawling with people. Easily six to seven hundred bodies were crammed into the event space. The place was packed with people from all over the tri-state area. Neon lights, Vaporwave theme, disco balls, strobe lights, and smoke machines set the atmosphere for a slamming marathon dance fest. It was still very early, and the mob was already a massive wet sweaty mess.

There were people all in video game garb and gear! It seemed like every game was represented like Call of Duty, God of War, Team Fortress, Fortnite, League of Legends, Soulcalibur, Halo, Pokemon, World of Warcraft, Street Fighter, Counterstrike, and Battlefield. It was quite clear tons of cosplay commissions were well spent.

Some characters were from throwbacks like Zelda, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Grand Theft Auto, and Mario. And of course, there were folks from scary games as well like Silent Hill, Bloodborne, The Witcher, Resident Evil, and Castlevania.

Rey craned her neck and did her “Up Periscope” thing she was used to doing in order to find her big Ben. She immediately saw Finn and Rose right in the middle of the mob, and she pushed and shoved her way over to them through the throng of people. They were dressed as Jax Briggs & Jade from Mortal Kombat. They were so cute.

“Have you guys seen Ben?” She started right in shouting over the music.

Rose shook her head, “Nope, you all we’re supposed to meet here?”

“Yeah… hope he’s not chickening out at the last minute.” Rey brought her thumb up to her mouth and tried not to gnaw on her nail. But she failed as she continued to scan the place.

Finn leaned in closer to her to examine her holsters. “Woah, Rey --- Are those real Desert Eagles?”

“Nope, Lara Croft uses Heckle & Kochs!” Rey grinned.

Finn took a closer look in awe. “But are those the real deal, Rey?”

“Yup.” Rey nodded and smiled; she was very proud of her handiwork.

“Right now, Shawty, you’re putting Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander to shame!” Finn laughed.

“Thanks” She winked. “Oh, if you see him before I do, tell my hot outlaw, I’m looking for him.”

No sooner than Rey made her way over to the bar, then she felt a large, heavy gloved hand lay on her shoulder. She turned slightly startled.

“Hey! Where the Hell have you been??” She looked up at him and scanned the very elaborate costume. The very second that she saw him, she finally clipped her iphone to her waistband. She no longer needed to hold onto it since she had found him.

Rey handed him one of the glow sticks. “Here, babe.” She reached up to kiss him on his masked cheek.

“Switched to Reaper, huh?” She looked him up and down. “I have to admit he’s a helluva lot scarier than McCree.”

**_“Amateur Hour.”_ **He spoke low and gruffly. She could barely hear him over the blaring EDM.

“Perhaps a little sexier, though!” she nudged him in the arm, realizing the quote was one of his character’s lines from the video game.

The tall black hooded, wraith-like, spectre-looking figure stood next to her silently. In almost all black with gray sleeves and wristbands, he held two huge Hellfire shotguns – the hitscan type and wore thick heavy black military styled steel-toed boots.

There was way more gravel to his tone of voice as he uttered another line of the assassin’s, from the game. _**“I’m Back in Black.”** _He haphazardly placed the glow stick on the bar.

Assuming he was going full on Reaper and in character, made her chuckle to herself. How many times had the roles been reversed… had the proverbial shoe been on the other foot? Four years ago, Ben ribbed her so hard for attempting a very bad French accent all night long dressed as Eponine from Les Miserables.

She grabbed two beers for them and handed him one. Much like the glow stick, she found it odd that he immediately placed it upon a rung of the metal ladder on the wall beside them. He’d never ever done that before.

Just then Poe showed up as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 straight from Halo with Jannah and Bazine trailing behind him. They clearly were dressed as other members of his black ops team. It was hilarious - they looked more like his back-up singers.

“Wassup, Playa?” Poe offered his and Ben’s usual greeting. But was completely ignored. Everyone seemed to notice it and turned to him slowly.

“Great costume, Rey … as always.” Bazine chimed in breaking the tension.

Poe continued to stare at him intensely, feeling rather put off. “What’s with you, dude?”

“Let’s go, guys. I wanna dance!” Jannah grabbed both Poe and Bazine tugging them towards the floor.

Rey was just about to ask Ben ‘what was the deal’ when she saw Hux and Phasma waving wildly from across the room. It appeared as though Finn and Rose had pointed them over. Armie was wearing a tuxedo and toting a Walther PPK replica in one hand and a martini glass in the other. Supposedly he was James Bond from GoldenEye. And Phasma looked perfectly imposing as Freya from God of War.

“Hey guys - Good look.” Hux kissed Rey on her cheek and bopped Ben right on the nose of his mask.

Phasma added loudly. “Well, we’re going to go shake!”

Rey was beginning to get irritated now. “Hey, Ben! C’mon, let’s dance.” She snatched him by his arm and was met with great resistance.

He stood there stone still and didn’t budge.

She shouted at him. “Okay, okay Ben. Let’s take a walk then. Clearly you’re mad about something.”

This time when Rey took his gloved hand in hers, he followed her willingly. They reached a darkened corridor leading to the warehouse annex. The further away they walked, she realized the less she would have to shout. The night was still young, and her throat was already getting sore.

#

Rey stopped and leaned against the wall to face him. “Alright, Ben. What’s going on? What’s up with you?” Rey playfully folded her arms in front of her and began patting her foot.

There was a long eerie silence. Suddenly she sensed there was something very strange and off kilter …. A feeling. His breathing was very heavy and stilted ….

_“Dude!”_ In a moment of clarity, it had finally dawned on Rey. **This was not Ben!!!**

She shrieked. _“Who are you? Where is Ben?”_ A chill ran up her spine like thin icy fingers. Her breath caught. She abruptly turned to leave the weirdo behind just when he lunged at her, quickly grabbed her around the neck and lifted her right up off the floor. Rey’s feet fell dangling.

_“What the fuck!!”_ Terror seized her and shot all throughout her body. With all her strength, she started pounding into his chest and then reached up to wrench his hands from her throat.

**“Let - Me - Go!”** She choked and struggled to speak. Rey kicked at him and missed. But then she swung both her legs in between his and slid right onto the floor behind him. The air went out of her when she hit the cement. But Rey scrambled to her knees and stood gasping, panting for breath.

Instinctively, Rey ran.

Her gut wrenched. _What is happening? What is happening? What is happening??_

Rey spun around. He was right behind her the whole time. She darted through large piles of antiquated assembly line machinery and broken glass. She couldn’t seem to shake him.

Rey suddenly spied a two-by-four leaning against the windowsill and grabbed it. With full force she swung it as hard as she could. The moment he crested the concrete slab just before the window, she tried to take a “homer” to his head. But to no avail. The wood cracked loudly and splintered into several pieces all over the cement floor. She had hit him so hard that she fell to the ground again. Rey scooted along the floor and backed up shocked.

_“Bloody Bastard!”_ Rey couldn’t believe it.

_**“Too Easy.”**_ Dammit, he kept quoting Reaper from that stupid game.

Rey quickly stood up and ran as if her life depended on it…. Perhaps because for the first time ever it truly did.

She ducked into the nearest hallway and simply placed her back flat flush against the door.

Heavy was the sound of his shuffling with those well-laden steel-toed boots against the concrete, and it was all she could hear. The sound of him growing nearer and nearer to where she stood quiet and motionless.

_Ben, where are you? I really need ya right now, babe._ She thought to herself.

She saw a series of smaller automatic garage doors up ahead and figured they led to loading docks. She turned to see if he was still following her. No sign of him.

Rey thought to herself. _If I could just get to the parking lot._

With nothing and no one in sight, she silently crept through the garage door down toward the ground very carefully…

And there he was standing in the gravel just outside the loading zone a mere eight feet away. She swiftly leapt back up onto the loading dock and immediately heard her iphone clack to the ground beneath her -- there was simply no time to retrieve it. **Dammit!**

She knew the huge mistake she made getting further away from the crowd. Rey was keenly aware that other people would possibly be her only salvation.

She ran alongside the wall and tried to avoid the large windows – but she knew if she only saw someone it would be worth the risk screaming out for help. But he was still on her heels.

Up ahead, there was a pile of bricks in the corner over to her right. Rey bent down and seized one and swung it with everything she had at his head. A dull hollow thud sound echoed through the empty building.

He slowly turned back toward her. He was relentless.

_**“Was that All?”** _His voice was low, garbled and even more gravelly. Another line from the damn game.

Now that would have taken down the strongest of men. Yet, he was unfazed. He was unstoppable.

Slowly he fully faced her squarely. He started for her once more.

_“Think, think, Rey!”_ Her gut instinct took over. _“No, run ... Run, Rey!”_

Narrowly escaping him a second time, Rey kicked it into high gear and tore off running once more toward a steel ladder across the floor of the huge, darkened hallway.

Rey was no archer and began to suspect the bow and arrows were not only going to be ineffectual but were quickly becoming a liability. She rid herself of them as she began to climb the metal ladder up to the catwalk. She made her way up it quickly and effortlessly. Looking down, Rey discovered that this place was all one huge maze.

Along the catwalk, she teetered carefully and did her best to not make a sound, and not to fall.

She reached the second level and saw an air duct with broken hinges. Scaling the wall and tucking herself inside the air duct was not only smart but ideally self-preservation at that point. Rey saw no other recourse. She needed to stay alive. She squeezed through on her hands and knees and began to crawl slowly and stealthily.

She reached a junction where the air duct split into a fork. As she crawled through to the right, she suddenly felt a sharp ripping and tearing sensation. Metal dug deeply into her right arm and the pain was excruciating. It tore and seemingly burned into her flesh and muscle. Rey refused to cry out, not wanting to give away her position.

She shuddered and shook, desperately trying to stay still and as quiet as humanly possible. Perspiration steadily dripped down her forehead, cheeks and chin.

And Rey could hear him just underneath her.

_**“If it Lives, I Can Kill It!”**_ Another line from that fucking game.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest now. Every one of her muscles tightened. She stiffened and pressed her back as close to the wall of the vent as she was physically able. Rey reminded herself to breath in through her nose and breath out through her mouth.

Once he had passed under her, she crawled all the way out of the vent and cleared the landing. Rey began to run again as fast as she could. Being a woman who prided herself in her fitness and stamina, she felt if she could only put some decent distance between them … she’d find help and make it to safety.

She wasn’t quite sure where he was at this point, but she heard him speak again. **Shit.**

_**“Dead Man Walking.”**_ He kept quoting the game. _What does this bastard think? … he’s really Reaper?_

But always he seemed to be right on her. No matter how fast or how far she ran.

She spied an open doorway just down the corridor on the left.

The door was left slightly ajar and Rey hoped she was able to either open it or barely squeeze through without having some squeaky hinges signal her location. Must’ve been some manager's office with a large desk and file cabinets all around. On tiptoe she made it inside and carefully crouched down behind the desk. Rey slithered under it on the filthy floor; she laid flat on her stomach.

She listened very carefully and finally heard him slowly walk by the empty office door.

He stopped momentarily. Her chest seized and Rey felt like the bottom fell out of her stomach. It began to roil and bubble, but she laid there flat under the desk perfectly still. She could hear his breathing.

He asked another quote from the game, ** _“Haven’t I Killed You?”_** Then he continued past the office and headed further down the corridor.

Now she began to strategize for a moment and figured backtracking her steps now might be the wisest thing to do. Once she inched out of the office and made it back down to the ground floor, Rey’s head was splitting now while she followed the corridor back towards the main warehouse. She heard rustling just behind her and knew it was him. So, she opted to duck into the nearest open doorway.

There was only a little bit of moonlight streaming in what appeared to be a janitor’s closet. Cleaning supplies, some canisters, cobwebs, broken glass and shelves were strewn about everywhere. Her eyes instantly fell upon a huge blood-soaked stain against the wall nearest the door. She let them trail further down from the stain to the floor and saw something that seemed way out of place and most likely was a recent addition to the small room.

There along the cement floor just inside the doorway, laying in a heap, she found what appeared to be an orange and brown poncho, crumpled cowboy hat, a Peacekeeper six-shooter, tan tee, tan jeans, holster and HIS cowboy boots…

_“Ben ...”_ she whimpered. Rey now crazed, choked and clutched wildly at her face, smashing her mouth closed. She tightly shut her eyes, shook terribly, clenching her teeth.

Tears streamed down Rey’s fingers, cheeks and chin collecting in the pit of her neck. Then flowed further down onto her camisole. Her breath caught - her heart ached. Ben!! The love of her life, her future husband and father of her unborn children was gone. She felt it. She just knew it.

Her arm was now throbbing, and she began to consider for the first time that she was going to die. The realization hit her like that two-by-four she wielded earlier. A sorrowful mixture of mucous and tears pooled above her top lip.

“No – You can do this, Rey! You can do this!” Sheer willpower was her only friend now. And Rey refused to go out like this. With the back of her hand and wrist, she wiped her nose. Maybe Ben is just badly injured somewhere or lying unconscious in need of help.

Determined now, she crawled out of the closet on her hands and knees trying not to favor her right arm with the gash, which was now miserably gushing blood.

And then all at once, Rey stopped cold. It had suddenly occurred to her.

_“Why am I running? Why? Dammit, I have live ammo right here in these babies! I know what I’ll do. I’ve got something for this fake ass Terminator! Yeah, I’m going to play like Aria Stark in the “No One” episode of Game of Thrones and lay in waiting for this son of a bitch._

She made her way back to the main hallway. Rey quietly settled down on the floor with her back against the wall in total darkness. She drew the pistols from their holsters, checked that the safeties were off, readied herself, and faced the door in anticipation.

He was coming. She could feel it. She could sense it. And now she most definitely heard it. She heard his footsteps once more gradually getting closer. He was slowly getting closer and closer and closer.

Time stilled then stopped. It was like nails on a chalkboard. _ **“No One Left Behind.”**_

Rey blinked and held her breath.

The door to the hallway slowly swung open.

Over twenty shots rang out!

#

Finn and Rose were laying on top of the roof of his Honda looking up at the moon when they heard it. Finn slid off the car quickly and grabbed Rose sharply by the hand.

“Uh-oh! That better not be our Peanut.” They took off running in the direction of the gunfire at the annex.

When they reached the hallway, where they assumed was the source of the loud flurry of bullets, they encountered a small cloud of smoke and fine gunpowder spray in the air. Finn fanned his hands in front of him as he and Rose stood there silently in horror and shock.

Still smoking, her two brand new pistols lay alone on the cement floor of the bottling company annex. Each clip was fully spent ... Almost thirty shell casings were all over the floor.

And four yards away, in a bloody pile against the wall they found a soaked white camisole, khaki leggings, double hip holsters, leather straps, gloves and cuffs, and …

… Rey’s unlaced brown boots.

#


End file.
